Pitcairn Co. Trims Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Pitcairn Co. decreased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,709 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,618,407,000 after purchasing an additional 96,381 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 25.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,331,000 after purchasing an additional 877,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ValueAct Holdings L.P. lifted its position in Salesforce by 12.3% during the second quarter. ValueAct Holdings L.P. now owns 3,914,309 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,006,369,000 after purchasing an additional 428,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $342.12 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $294.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.66.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total value of $1,251,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,586,572.08. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $342.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $336.37.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.